Mixed Use Commercial Building | Reconstruction | 400-404 Stewart Avenue Ithaca, NY 14850 | 2016
This mixed-use property was best known for housing the Chapter House for 50 years. Early in 2015, the building was a total loss after a serious fire. JKDA was hired to design a new building that honored the former site.
Thanks to The History Center, JKDA was able to do extensive research on the building’s rich history, and develop a project that artfully combined elements of several different eras of the property. The final design, approved by the Ithaca Landmarks Preservation Commission Committee, brought back the mansard roof from the earliest known design, and kept the brick and collegiate gothic storefront & woodworking at the street level from the more modern incarnation.
Also keeping to its previous version, the building houses a mix of commercial and residential space, with a restaurant and bar on the first floor and apartments on the second. Sadly, the Chapter House has not returned, though admittedly we still hope!
